Diversions: In the Stream

Many people today are looking to reduce stress in their lives. Often this results in stress-reduction-induced-stress syndrome or SRISS. With this column, the chamber begins a series on options for stress reduction, recreation and diversion. While an academic publication might be inclined to entitle such a piece " On Options for Stress Reduction, Recreation and Diversion", we have taken the lead from our purpose and simply titled this column, "Diversions".

I am a great believer in the concept that just as each person has a skill or talent at which they excel, so too do each of us have a diversion that is uniquely right. Sometimes this diversion builds on the skills that you use on the job every day, more often it is quite different. So a thoracic surgeon might be a mountain climber, a lawyer might build furniture and a writer might fish the sun-dappled stream.

Fishing is actually several very different sports. Surf fishers scout the beaches and sniff for southwest winds in the quest for a big Blue run. Tuna fishers pay huge sums for boats and tackle to bring in the not-very-elusive Yellow Fin. To fresh-water fly fishers it is the stalking of the elusive trout that roils their blood, a useful feature for spending hours in a cold stream.

Probably the warmest and driest part of any fisher's life is the hours spent preparing to fish. Whether it be the tours of tackle shops or the hours spent tying flies in the basement, well more than half of the leisure time available is spent away from the locus operandi.

Fly-tying is, in itself, a great hobby. Viewing nature and trying to emulate the touch, feel and sense of a mayfly as it appears to a wary fish develops a first-hand communication with nature. Some of the best fly-tiers can tie a fly on the stream, after observing the still-new insect hatch. Most fly-fishers, however, buy their flies ready-made.

You can get into fly-fishing quite inexpensively. Most fishing supply stores, and especially L. L. Bean, Orvis and Bob Smith/Wilderness House, have special beginner's packages or can assemble one tailored for you. I have found that my first rod and reel are still among my favorites, even after years of accumulating an immense supply of tackle.

Lessons are also readily available, from extended stays at a woodland lodge, with fishing tours lead by a backwoods guide, to classes taught by Carol Stapleton, Newton's Assistant Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, at Crystal Lake in Newton Centre (Call her at 552-7030).

Casting a fly line is an artful activity. Even the words describing the act of "presenting" a fly speaks to the communication between body, rod and line and the singular relationship between the fisher and nature and, oh yes, there is the fish too.

Trout are especially wily animals and the fisher has to learn their habits in a variety of conditions. The observation of these conditions includes the insect hatch, the air and water temperature, topography, the location of vegetation, the play of sun and shade and even the blossoming of fruit trees. There is an occasionally accurate old saw that states that "the brookies run when the apples are in bloom". Sometimes.

If you think that fly fishing might be your diversion, give it a try, if not come on back and we'll look at a world of other possibilities.